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Monday, September 14, 2009

Patrick Swayze Dies

August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009

Sad to report, Patrick Swayze has lost his battle with cancer. Swayze died today at the age of 57. He will be remembered for many iconic roles throughout the 80's and 90's.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Tubes - She's a Beauty

This 1983 song and video by The Tubes is one of the best songs you'll ever want to listen to about strippers. It reached #10 on the charts.


I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger

Friday, August 14, 2009

Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue



Didn't always understand what he was singing, but didn't care. It just sounded good the way he was singing it. Eddy Grant reached #2 with this reggae inspired hit in 1983.


I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger

Movie of the Week - The War of the Roses (1989)



The trio of Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito worked so well for Romancing the Stone and it's follow up Jewel of the Nile that they decided to join forces again and make this 1989 dark comedy.

The War of the Roses is so funny, because it is so true. There are ways this troubled couple relate to each other that almost any married couple in the world can sympathize. There are classic scenes throughout that will stick in your memory forever.

Even though the Indiana Jones-like Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile get more attention for this trio of actors, it is this movie that is by far the more superior film.

Kudos to Danny DeVito for directing this film. It was an underrated job of directing. Go rent this film and thank me later.


I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger

The Vapors - Turning Japanese

We've all heard the rumors so I don't believe there's a need to go into it here. Suffice it to say, this song is not about switching citizenship to become a Japanese citizen. Use your imagination if you don't know, and if that doesn't work, ask a friend what this song is about.

This was a big hit for The Vapors all the way back in 1980.


I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Top 10 Scandals of the 80's

These are the scandals that first hit my mind when thinking about 80's. I'm sure there are probably others out there and I welcome your feedback in the comments. That being said, out of the ten scandals off the top of my head in the 80's, I ranked them according to their importance and impact.



#10
Rob Lowe's Sex Tape


Doesn't he look like the cat who ate the canary in the photo above? Well that isn't too far off of what Rob Lowe did at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. While attending the convention Rob picked up a couple of, more than willing, girls from a local bar. He took them back to his hotel room where they engaged in a threesome that was videotaped. Unfortunately for Mr. Lowe, one of the girls was only 16yrs old.

I come down on the side of Rob on this one. I mean really, what are you supposed to do, start IDing girls you meet in bars? They're supposed to be old enough if they're in the place drinking in the first place.

Luckily, Rob had no legal problems arise from the tape, but the embarrassment from the tape being leaked, derailed his career for a period of time. Rob's career has totally rebounded and he enjoys steady work in Hollywood to this day.

An interesting fact about this scandal is that it is one of the very first Hollywood sex tape scandals. As we all know now, alot of celebrities use this as a vehicle to stardom these days. Boy, how times have changed.


#9
Oral Roberts Fundraising


In January 1987 Oral Roberts stepped in front of a camera and told all his followers God was going to "call him home" unless he raised $8 million by March. Luckily, for Mr. Roberts, a millionaire made up the lacking funds just before the deadline.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't God own everything to begin with? I have my doubts God would need Oral Roberts to raise a single penny for him if that's what he wanted. Here, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with organized religion. I highly doubt God approves.

Anyway, don't get me started. On to the next entry on the list.


#8
Milli Vanilli's Lip Synching


In 1989 Milli Vanilli was performing live on MTV when the recording began to skip, leaving the duo trying to cover by playing right along with the skip. Finally, they both ran off the stage in utter embarrassment. As questions arose from the mishap it was revealed that neither Milli or Vanilli sang on the album. They were just live puppets. Because they had won Grammy Awards the scandal was heightened and they ended up giving the awards back.


#7
Ben Johnson's Steroids Scandal


Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was just sick and tired of losing to American sprinter Carl Lewis. So what did he do to get better? Train? No. Steroids? Yes. In doing so, Johnson became unbeatable. He shattered two world records and won Olympic Gold in 1988.

When it was found, through testing, Johnson had been taking steroids he was stripped of his world records and his Olympic Gold Medal.


#6
Pete Rose Bets On Baseball


For the life of me I have never quite understood Pete Rose's sin here. Did he bet on baseball? Yes. Did he bet on Reds games? Yes. Did he bet against the Reds? No.

Pete Rose never bet against the team he was managing and/or playing for. Therefore, he never tried to fix a game or anything even close to it. What he did do is put his money where his mouth was and say his team was gonna kick the other team's ass. I don't have a problem with this.

To keep the all-time hits leader in the history of baseball out of the Hall of Fame and to give him a lifetime ban is just unbelievably ridiculous. Baseball should be ashamed. Charlie Hustle didn't cheat!!! Reinstate the man and put him in the Hall where he belongs!!!


#5
Gary Hart's Love Of Rice


Donna Rice that is. Hart was the clear Democratic front runner to win the party's nomination to be President in 1988. Unfortunately for Hart and fortunately for the country, his extra-marital affair with Donna Rice was revealed and it derailed his career. Gotta love Rice!!!


#4
Jimmy Swaggart The Hypocrite


Jimmy Swaggart must have been thinking the ministry was just a microcosm of the great 80's movie Highlander. He must of been thinking of the movie's theme of "There can be only one", because he had been running around policing the Kingdom of God and taking the heads of such high profile preachers as Jim Bakker and Marvin Gorman for extra-marital affairs.

Here's the rub. While Jimmy was busy eliminating the competition he was doing the exact same thing himself. And what made matters worse was he was cheating with streetwalking prostitutes. Tsk tsk tsk....I don't think God approves Jimmy.


#3
Jim Bakker Cheats and Evades


When it was found out Jim Bakker had cheated on Tammy Faye with the church secretary, Jessica Hahn, that was bad enough, but when the subsequent investigation, because of the hush money, uncovered numerous financial irregularities, the government came at him with both barrels blasting.

By the time it was all over, Bakker suffered a nervous breakdown and was sentenced to 45yrs in prison. PTL.


#2
The Iran Contra Affair


This scandal touched a lot of people in Washington, but it never made it up to Ronald Reagan. And there is a simple reason why. Reagan knew nothing about it. As much as some people would like to lay the blame at his feet, he simply knew nothing.

The player that came out of this affair, looking much better than the Democrats would have liked was Oliver North. He became so popular for his coolness under oath, his hair cut became the fad of the summer of '87.


#1
Savings And Loan Scandal

The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly referred to as the S&L crisis) was the failure of 745 savings and loan associations (S&Ls aka thrifts). An S&L association is a financial institution in the United States that accepts savings deposits and makes mortgage loans. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. government—that is, the U.S. taxpayer, either directly or through charges on their savings and loan accounts[1]—which contributed to the large budget deficits of the early 1990s.

The concomitant slowdown in the finance industry and the real estate market may have been a contributing cause of the 1990–1991 economic recession. Between 1986 and 1991, the number of new homes constructed per year dropped from 1.8 million to 1 million, the lowest rate since World War II

---Wikipedia





I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger


Animotion - Obsession



This was an even a larger hit than it's #6 chart position would indicate. That may be due to the fact of it's status as a club song and it's content. Animotion charted this song in 1985 with lead singers Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams on vocals. It wasn't until later, when both Plane ad Wadhams had left the group, that Cynthia Rhodes (also known as Mrs. Richard Marx) joined as lead vocalist.


I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger